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Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Chapter 1

In chapter 1 “Annawadi” of Behind the Beautiful Forevers, Katherine Boo gives readers a retrospective look into Annawadi 7 months prior to Abdul surrendering himself to police. She delves into the background of how Annawali was founded and provides further details about how Abdul, and others make a living.

Boo discusses Rahul’s experience working at the Intercontinental Hotel serving the rich and famous. Rahul states “But when I get rich enough to be a guest at a big hotel, I’m not going to act like such a loser.”

Based on the discussions of wealth in this chapter, how does the wealth that surrounds the slumdwellers shape their own expectations and hopes?

17 comments:

Natalie Thompson
said...

It seems that a few of the people in this chapter has hopes and dreams. One of those people being the younger brother of Abudul. The areas around the slumdwellers is an airport with a lot of glamorous hotels which give the people hope of maybe someday working in these buildings as well.Abdul takes advantage of it all by recycling trash, and He hopes someday to move his family to a larger plot of land.

Since the people of Annawadi lived in the slums, they were at the lowest of the low within the social class. This placed them at a loss for jobs and respect from other people. This characteristic of Abdul and his people squandered many of his hopes to be successful in the world. He had hopes to pursue, but remained content being a garbage trader. He even has a lost hope for his brother, Mirchi, to pursue a better job outside of Annawadi. Abdul understands their status and how that greatly inhibits any strives they may make.

From my perspective, the slumdwellers have hopes and dreams to be more than what they are, and live better. They see these wealthy people surrounding them in these hotels, and desire to attain this success in life.The young men strive to make a way out of the slums and take advantage of opportunities to work in better-paying temporary jobs.

By being around and having to serve the rich, the slum dwellers are constantly comparing themselves to the rich. They are not even allowed to look at the famous, which only fuels their curiosity and desire to be in their shoes. This desire drives Rahul in his everyday life and increases his business drive with his recycling.

I would say the hopes and dreams of the slum dwellers seems a little tainted. I feel they don't desire to be like the wealthy because they do not respect nor admire their characters. Although they would love to have more, they don't necessarily strive to be like the wealthy people that stay at the hotels around the airport. Abdul's younger brother was a good example of this. Overall, I feel they are able to separate the money from the people behind it so that it doesn't affect them. Their hopes and dreams are mediocre because they don't believe they can break past a certain level in their economic class.

Everyone in the slums believes that with enough hard work one should be able to survive and maybe be able to leave Annawadi. With traditions being ignored in other parts of the country as time goes on, there is also hope for some time of work at the hotels or the airport. There is an expectation that as long as you work you will not starve, but with a lucky break you might be able to prosper and bring a fortune back to your family.

It seems that the wealth surrounding the slum dwellers makes them desire to be wealthy but also despise the wealthy people. They want more money but don't want to be sought out like the wealthy people. Many people in the world today, like the slum dwellers, want wealth but despise the attitudes that wealthy people have.

Because they live so close to the hotel, it is the symbol ofBecause they live so close to the hotel, it is the symbol of wealth and hope. Wealth is the only thing that they hope and aspire to. However, their concept of wealth is different from what we think it is; they just want to have enough money to eat and be healthy. Living in the hotel is what their dream is.

Because they live so close to the hotel, it is the symbol of wealth and hope. Wealth is the only thing that they hope and aspire to. However, their concept of wealth is different from what we think it is; they just want to have enough money to eat and be healthy. Living in the hotel is what their dream is.

The slumdwellers live in poor living conditions and they are motivated by the international airport that is near. The airport is a source for opportunities and successes to those who live in the slums. I believe that the airport being so close to the slums serves as motivation and is a symbol of hope for the slumdwellers. From my interpretation of this chapter it seems as if the slumdwellers want to be successful and see the airport as a way to achieve their dreams.

The slumdwellers are so far from normality that even normal experiences are big dreams for them. Having dreams is what gives them hope and keeps them living. Without them they have nothing to look forward to.

The wealth surrounding the slumdwellers has given them the hope that they will eventually be able to at least have stable jobs and enough money to do more than just barely survive. They also desire to get the respect they deserve and escape the place assigned to them by the caste system. Also, some of them, like Rahul, probably long to be like the rich people that frequent the nearby hotels.

The wealth that surrounds the slumdwellers shapes their expectations and hopes in a very influential manner. Of course, the slumdwellers would love to have enough money to be able to obtain food and appropriate shelter. However, they despise how the wealthy behaves on a consistent basis.

Being surrounded by riches, the slum dwellers have a lot to look up to. They dream bigger than their social class despite any ridicule they may receive from their peers. They have a one sided idea of what success is based on the wealthy people that they see and that is what most of them strive for. Abdul on the other hand is content to sell garbage even though he himself hopes to one day own a house away from the slums with a wife.

I believe that the slum dwellers are in a crippling situation. They have hopes and desires to live a better life and they want what little pieces of prosperity that they see; however, they are under the impression that wealth is so far away from them and it is not a tangible thing they can obtain.

The slumdwellers have high expectations and hopes. Being around and seeing all the wealthy people makes them want to do better and be wealthy as well. They want to be wealthy and live the lifestyle, but they do not wish to act how the wealthy individuals act. Rahul states that they act like losers, which is something he definitely wont do when he gets rich.

The people of Annawadi don't really seem as though they want to be wealthy in the sense of having a lot of money. It seems to me that they hope for better jobs than what they are offered in their town and to be able to afford lavish things that others with enough money do have. It's more of the strive for more opportunity that the people seem to have more so than the actual money itself.